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Syncrowave 350 ocv 140 oca 350 won't weld

(Hey Cruizer, and the others that may be able to help as much as you)

Syncrowave 350 on 230v single phase from 1988 (I know its old sorry)

S/N # JJ458966

Stock # 902976

I've seen many posts where you have been of great help here. So I figured maybe you can shed some light on this issue that just happen'd recently. I'm not concern'd with tig operation at this time so all tig related switches are off, no torch attached. I would at least like to get it back up and stick welding again. This machine was working great on all stick modes ac/dc/ etc about 6 months ago. The breaker has been turned off so I don't think any kinda surge happen'd to it while it sat. Anyways every since I turned it on recently after it sitting I get a high voltage reading ocv 140 and high amp reading oca spikes from 500 and drops in a few seconds down to around 350 and stays. Will not stick weld unless I turn on arc control to around 80% or higher and even then its kinda way too hot and won't hold a stable arc for long, if you adjust the arc control down very finely it will adjust down while welding but then lose its stable arc. Messing with the main amp control doesn't seem to affect it much at all though if I hold the toggle switch and adjust amps up and down the digital display will read out properly then when I let the toggle switch go it will go back to oca of about 350. If I turn arc control off you either get nothing or maybe a spark no more than what you would see from a spark plug. and the HF is in off position and I have no pulse option installed on this machine just to give a little more info. Also if ya have it and don't mind a service manual would be greatly appreciated for this 700 lb. monster.

Syncrowave 350 ocv 140 oca 350 won't weld

Originally Posted by cruizer

Sounds more like a input power issue, do you indeed have 230Vac pole to pole?

DON'T TEST POLE TO GROUND, AS THATS A USELESS MEASUREMENT!

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Incase this helps, when I bought the machine it was using 230v and when I got it home I used the same jumper setting, never messed with it. The machine worked at my house with these settings and the same input power for years. ( though the ocv was around 80 and oca 000 or fluctuate up to about 006 then down to 000 from time to time). Just recently I go out and turn the breaker on-then turn on the welder and get those crazy digital display readings and no weld output. Funny thing is this all happen'd just from sitting, never had it fail on me while I was welding and or using the machine.

I tested both hot leads inside the machine where they hook to the main input lugs via direct wire pig tail I guess you would call it... ( with machine off and breaker on 240vac was present, figured this would be the most accurate I could give ya- eliminating any possible problems outside the machine along the power wire. Given that I get a good reading ...

Thanks again for your time with this, I hope you or someone has come across this symptom. Though online I haven't seen much at all in the way of tech problems posted on a machine of this age and model. Yet there had to of been 10's of thousands built and sold in my opinion. I know by the many years this one has been operating that its very possible that there are many still in use or able to operate, and there had to of been various problems arise through out the years. I guess the reason that I don't see much tech problems reported online is possibly that most people that were able to afford such a machine and really need it to make thier business possible are able to afford to get a much more updated machine or take it to a service center and throw money at it. Sadly the machines that go to the service center and get fixed don't get documented for us to see online like this great forum that miller is providing. I'm guessing that either miller or the welding machine techs might have a worldwide knowledge base that is updated all the time with problems and what fixed it. I don't know if things have progressed to that sort of system for you guys just thinking its prolly out there. Since, I believe automotive techs have something like this.

Anyways, I hope the commentary wasn't too much, I'll leave it to you and the forum users and help you with whatever info that I can provide.

Syncrowave 350 ocv 140 oca 350 won't weld

Originally Posted by cruizer

Open it up, remove and reinsert ALL the molex connectors to ALL the internal boards. May be corrosion.

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After removing and reinserting all molex connectors and using compressed air duster for computers, the connectors looked great surprisingly. To the untrained eye all boards looked in good shape too except for what looks to be marked as c 42. Otherwise, I didn't notice anything burnt, corroded, swelled up, etc. How much problem do you think this small item is really causing...? I'll be including pictures this time resized from 14mp rez down to 800x600 as suggested by this forum. Thanks again I'm sure you see the pics just fine on the monster 42" screen hehe. Its my first time postin pics here so let me know if I need to send you them in full resolution.

Syncrowave 350 ocv 140 oca 350 won't weld

Originally Posted by cruizer

This is a toughy, I'd still go with a corroded connection somewhere. Boards are likely ok

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Thanks again for the quick reply, is there anything that you can suggest I check with a digital volt meter. Or an area in general I should look into inorder to track this odd problem down. I have a fluke meter, though I don't have one that can check capacitors.... other than that I can check things for ya if you have any readings that I should be getting at certain spots in the machine. Also, I read in the manual about no weld output possibly being a thermostat tp1 seems its near a transformer at the bottom of the machine though I haven't spotted it yet and would like to know how to test it, if thats stopping the weld output er if you think I should even persue that possible cause. That symptom in the manual was... machine comes on and pilot light is lit as well as fan running and no weld output, though it never said anything about ocv high and oca false or high.

Miller EconoTwin HF #JG132016

Cruiser I'm new here and may be out of place. I have a welder as Identified above that I bought reasonable because it was a 440 machine. I was going to junk it out but it was just to nice inside and I couldn't do it. I got to reading the simple schematic in it and decided I could center tab the primary and parallel the two windings and run it on 240 volts. That worked out perfectly. Now I want to ad a pedal to the machine so that i can gain some semblance of control. I can weld aluminum with it the way it is but for thin stuff I need to raise and lower the heat very quickly. I read somewhere that the foot pedal wires into the secondary winding on the ac side of the circuit. If I can get a schematic that actually shows voltage and amperage values I thought I might be able to use a SCR from a motor control to raise the heat up and down. I of course would like to have a new tig welder but I am retired on about 700.50 a month and can't see that happening. I really appreciate you at least thinking about this. thank you much Mac